The Destructive Sandwich
by Happy Doodle
Summary: The clones react to the accusations of Ahsoka in Season 5 finale. Based on a part mentioned in my other fic, ' Talk of the Past'.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello there, as the description has said, this is based on one part of my other fic, 'Talk of The Past'. If you haven't read it, I suggest that you read it first (but it should be okay if you would like to proceed with this first). :D**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Clone Wars or any of the characters :)**

 _Beep._

' Rex here,' Rex said into his wrist comlink, putting down his fork. The others did the same and looked at him.

There was a certain tone of urgency in the General's words, ' Rex, get to the Military Base immediately. I don't care if you are having dinner or what. We have a major issue over here.'

' What about the others? What is going on?' Rex said, confused at whatever that was waiting for him.

' No, Rex. Keep them here. I only need you over here. Hurry up! I'll brief you on what is going on when you arrive. Please,' General Skywalker was half-screaming at him frantically.

' Alright, alright, sir. Right away,' Rex promised and got up from his seat at the dining table.

' Woah, Rex, what is going on?' Appo pressed on. ' Another mission?'

' No, stay here,' Rex ordered the 501st, and dashed out of the mess hall.

' I wonder what is happening,' Coric muttered, looking at the retreating back of his Captain.

At midnight back in the dorms, the 501st were getting ready for bed in their respective assigned rooms. ' Rex isn't back yet,' Echo noted, pulling back the covers.

' Probably some secret mission that no one knows,' Hawk said nonchalantly. ' Nothing to worry about. Relax, Echo.'

' It can't be a mission. They never let us go on solo missions, because it can be too dangerous and risky,' Fives remarked. ' We always go as a bunch, or as a Company.'

Kix frowned, ' Indeed. This is strange. Something huge must have happened.'

Before the others could agree, their room door slid open to reveal Fox, who announced angrily, ' Oh yes, Kix. Something _huge_ has happened. We have a problem out here. Your Commander Tano has just escaped and broken out of the heavily guarded Military Base area, then killed a bunch of my men. Oh, and she even murdered Letta Turmond, the original suspect of the bombings.'

There was stunned silence. After a while, Fives choked, ' Fox... Are you kidding or something?'

' Kidding? Do I look like kidding?' Fox exclaimed incredulously. ' Do I actually seem like kidding when some of my brothers were sliced down brutally by the Commander? She must be the one behind the Temple bombings. I knew it!'

Jesse gaped at him like a fish, ' Commander Tano, bomb the Jedi Temple? Haha, very funny, Fox. And I am the Grand General of the Republic. As if that is true. She isn't like that. The Jedi are her family. Do you even have proof?'

' I witnessed a holovid of her _Force-choking_ the lady,' Fox crossed his arms menacingly. ' And the next moment she has broken out of the detention block, with a heap of my dead brothers lying after her trail. You want more proof, huh? Your captain Rex, General Skywalker and I witnessed her jump from the tunnels off into the lower Corsucant levels. If she is innocent, then she wouldn't escape! She has to be guilty!'

' What? General Skywalker is in all this madness too?' Hawk bellowed. ' What did he say? What is his side? Is he with us?'

Fox snorted, ' Of course he says that she is innocent. But I'm sure it will not be the same when he sees the holovid. The proof is convincing.'

' If General Skywalker says Commander is innocent, then she must be innocent,' Echo insisted. ' I trust General's judgements.'

' Did you even give her time to explain?' Coric piped in, aghast. ' You people start to chase her before she can defend herself! I would be running away too if someone is pointing blasters at me for something I didn't do! I know Commander Tano would never betray the Jedi like this.'

' We have worked with her ever since the Battle of Christophsis. We watched her grow. There is no way she can fall to the dark side so easily,' Kix argued.

' Say whatever you want,' Fox glared, his face turning a blotchy shade of purple and red. ' I don't care. She killed my brothers and I'll make her pay for betraying the Republic.'

' She is not a traitor!'

' She is innocent!'

' You don't even give her time to explain!'

' This is not even fair!'

The 501st men crowded around Fox furiously, and the said man backed outside to the corridors. They began shouting at each other, and made as much noise as possible, until all the lights turned on. The racket woke up the entire barracks and all the men from other Legions. Soon enough, doors slid open, and groggy clones began to look out to the corridor, figuring out where the noise came from.

' What in the world is going on out here?' Cody said blearily, his men peering over his shoulder, trying to get a good look at the source of the noise.

' Good to see you, Cody. What's with all the noise?' Bly looked outside, totally confused.

' Is that Fox? Wait, what is the entire 501st doing out there? Late night party?' Wolffe demanded, looking out at Cody and Bly. ' I thought we have run out of food.'

Another door across the corridor swung open and Gree poked his head out warily, ' Am I missing out something? I think I heard a blaster fire. Are those Rex's men cornering Fox over there?'

' I think we had better intercede, in case they start to have a blaster fight in the corridor, then the barracks will be ruined,' Cody rumbled, scratching the back of his head. ' 212, stay in here, we'll take care of them.' The others were too curious, and instead of getting back in as instructed, they jostled to get a good view.

Cody, Bly, Gree and Wolffe stalked down the hallway, where Fox and Fives were yelling themselves hoarse at each other.

' Stop that, seriously,' Wolffe pulled the two men apart and Cody stood between them, shouting, ' Ceasefire! Ceasefire! What has gone into you people! Late night party?'

' It is not a party!' Appo bellowed over the noise, face red. ' We are, uh, correcting Fox's stupid accusation!'

' Accusation?' Bly repeated.

' That is not an accusation!' Fox said furiously.

' There is not even enough proof to support your accusation!'

They were ready to punch each other, and Gree forcefully secured Fox back into the crowds.

' Oi oi! Stop fighting!' Cody gestured wildly. ' What is going on exactly? What accusation? What proof? Care to explain?'

It didn't take long for Fox to angrily report on what had happened to the rest of the men, and within minutes, everyone was well-informed on the escape, faces downcast.

' Fox, that really is a serious accusation,' Gree proclaimed. ' You know, anyone could have murdered Letta Turmond. Commander Tano is not the only Jedi who knows how to Force-choke. I mean, anyone could do that. Have you investigated clearly before arresting her? Is there someone else in the room that you can't see?'

Fox seemed to have calmed down enough to say grumpily, ' I don't know! I seriously don't know! We can't even investigate, now that she has escaped somewhere. Who knows how long it will take to haul her back? Who knows if she has taken an aircraft off Coruscant and to, who knows, what planet in the Outer Rim?'

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

Everyone looked at their wrists to check for a comlink call. No, it came from Wolffe's comlink.

' Wolffe here,' He said into his comlink.

' Wolffe, rally up the entire Wolfpack,' Plo Koon's voice came through the device. ' You are needed immediately at the Jedi Temple hangar. Commander Tano has escaped from the Detention block and we think that she may be the one behind the Temple bombings. We'll be going down to the lower levels of Coruscant to look for her along with General Skywalker.'

' Yes, General. Immediately,' Wolffe sighed and cut off the communication. ' Look, guys, I have just been summoned to hunt her down. Don't come down to judgements so immediately. We don't know what is going on.'

' How can they hunt for Commander like that? It isn't like she is a wanted criminal!' Tup gasped.

' Calm down, Tup,' Cody said. ' We don't know for sure what is going on yet. I think if Commander Tano is really accused, the Council will definitely give the best judgement. The first step is to bring her back to us, so we can question her. Wolffe, hurry up.'

' What about the death of my men? How am I supposed to deal with that?' Fox glared.

' Don't worry, Fox,' Bly waved off. ' Everything will come out crystal clear. And you'll get replacement if you want some. Oh yes, Wolffe, do hurry up.'

Wolffe grimly walked up back to his doorway, and nearly jumped out of his skin, to find the entirety of his men were awake, huddled in one great bunch and looking up at him intently for any further orders.

' Wear your armour, take your blasters, we are needed immediately.'

Within minutes, the Wolfpack came filing out, clad in the clone armour and heavily armed with blasters. Wolffe nodded at the rest of the crowd huddled outside, ' We'll be back in a jiffy. And 501st, don't fight with Fox. He is just upset about his brothers.'

And before Fox could say anything, they marched out to embrace the unknown mission.


	2. Chapter 2

While the others were away, Cody sweetly coaxed ( _read threatened)_ the 501st to go back to bed, but Kix demanded to set up some sort of camping site to wait for the Wolfpack's return. Even Fox requested to sit outside to wait, and Cody pursed his lips tightly as if he had been asked to swallow a lemon.

Finally after conferring with Gree and Bly at the corner, Cody grudgingly agreed to this special arrangement, but only on his _conditions._

' What conditions?' Tup scowled.

Cody nodded at the direction of the 212th room.

In silent understanding, Boil appeared in a flash next to Cody, and wordlessly placed a massive cardboard box next to his commander's foot, then retreated back into the shadows where the rest of the 212th Attack Battalion were observing the situation at the doorway intently.

' _A box?_ _'_ Echo whispered to Fives. ' What's next?'

The next thing that happened scared everyone out of their wits. Bly roared, ' EVERYONE, ATTENTION! ALL MEN SEPARATED! HANDS AT THE BACK! STAND IN SINGLE FILE! ALL BLASTERS PUT IN THIS BOX! And yes, that means you too, Fox.'

' What?!' Fox blabbered. ' Why do you need to take our blasters?'

' Confiscate,' Gree corrected. ' Not take. Hey, we can't afford for you guys to break into a fighting spree again, can we? The barracks will be ruined! Our furnitures will be destroyed! And the Generals won't be happy.'

The room exploded into kerfuffle.

' What? You're telling me to lay my brand new blasters in this box?' Appo complained. ' I just got them replaced, man! I'm not having it replaced again! It's going to get scratched by the others!'

' I'm not letting go of my precious blaster!' Jesse wailed.

' I don't have a name tag on my blaster! It's going to get mixed up!' Hawk argued.

Cody shouted, ' IT'S EITHER PUTTING YOUR BLASTER IN THIS BOX OR GOING BACK TO SLEEP. TAKE YOUR PICK.' Gree innocently pressed open the 501st dorm door.

The men grumbled and agreed grudgingly to the condition. The next minute, the men groaned and moaned while tossing their shiny, newly polished blasters into the cardboard box. Boil stepped forward and gingerly took the box away.

' Your blasters will be returned when the Wolfpack is back,' Bly said. ' And now, you shall be free, uh, to camp.'

Blankets, pillows, mattresses were passed out, and within a couple of minutes, the corridor was efficiently transformed into a cosy camping site, with mattresses and blankets covering every inch of the floor. Cody, Bly and Gree stood there surveying the scene with barely suppressed exasperation, all secretly hoping that Wolfpack could return soon.

' Let's just get to bed first,' Gree said.

' I agree,' Cody sighed, rubbing his temples.

The commanders returned to their dorms and shooed their men back into their bunks.

Cody felt like he had just closed his eyes for a couple minutes when he heard a painful yell.

Lights flashed open and he stormed outside. The entire facility was awake again, because it seemed like Wolffe and his men were back from their mission. And it appeared that Wolffe had accidentally stepped on Coric in the darkness.

' Wolffe! You're back! What...' Fives's voice faltered at the sight of the commander.

The man looked as if he was coated with dust, and his eyes kept blinking wearily.

' Holy, Wolffe! You don't happen to be mugged, do you?' Echo demanded.

Wolffe raised a hand weakly, ' We found Commander Tano _in a Nanodroid factory_. We had her stunned. General Skywalker and General Plo Koon are having her taken back to the Jedi Temple currently. And yes, Echo, we did get mugged. A little while before the arrest, the Commander is found with Asajj Ventress. And she did this to our blasters.' His men raised their blasters to show the others, which were cut in half and smoking.

' You can get a replacement later,' Kix said sharply. ' But... that's impossible. Nanodroid factory? How can that be?'

' Oho!' Fox said. ' She must be in league with Ventress! It must be some Separatist plot! I told you that! That is a good evidence! She must be going off to the factory to escape with the Separatists but is found by you!'

' That's impossible!' Tup gasped. ' It can't be!'

' Face it,' Fox said grimly.

Wolffe crossed his arms, ' I would say the same if the Commander has her lightsabers. We discovered that she has lost both her main lightsaber and shotosaber and is not even armed at all. If she is really a Separatist and knowing that we would try to chase her, then why would she put away her lightsaber? I think there is a deeper plot to it.'

' We don't have the authority to judge this case. We'll have to leave it to the Jedi or the Senate,' Bly frowned. ' There are too many loopholes in this case, I-'

' What are you people doing out here?' It was Rex.

' Captain!' The 501st jumped to a salute.

He looked extremely tired and worn out, but his weary expression turned into a horrified grimace, ' Are you camping out here?!'

' Rex, we are worried about the Commander's case... So-' Jesse tried to explain.

' Yes,' Rex said sharply. ' About that. Don't you dare let me catch you mentioning a single word in front of the General next morning at breakfast. He's extremely sensitive towards this case, and who knows what the Jedi will do to the Commander. I want you all to keep your mouths shut. Okay?'

' Rex, we-'

Rex gave them a death glare that rivalled General Skywalker's.

Cody immediately came to the men's rescue, ' Alright alright, calm down people. Now that the Wolfpack is back, you can get your blasters back.' He took the box from Boil and set it to the floor.

The men immediately surged forward to wrestle their blaster from the humungous pile.

' No you nitwit, that's mine!' Appo screamed.

' Ow, Appo! Stop hitting me! That's my face!' Kix's voice rose up from the humungous crowd of men.

Once they had finished retrieving their blasters (read hitting each other), they lined up in a neat line in front of Rex. Rex still looked rather murderous.

' Uhhhhhh...' Bly slid away. ' I gueeeess... I'll be going.' He cowered under Rex's glare and ran back into his quarters, stuffing his men back in and slamming the door.

' Um,' Cody gulped. ' I'll get going.'

' Me too, I guess,' Gree agreed.

' We need a shower,' Wolffe added.

' Oi, wait for me!' Fox shouted, following the exiting commanders.

All was left was Rex and his men.

' Don't make me repeat my words again. Okay?'

They nodded vigorously.

' Good. Then go to bed.'

The men jostled at each other to return to their quarters, but not before giving each other a discreet look of worry for the Commander.

 ***listening to Star Wars theme as I write this* makes me even more motivated! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

Although Rex threatened the men to go to sleep, none of them could. The latest news gave them surges of energies. Plus, they were too worried to sleep. So once Kix reported from his top bunk that the Captain was asleep after an hour of restless toss and turns, everyone decided to resume their activities and discussion of how to get news about the Commander inside the large, shared refresher.

Fives bravely sneaked into the other dorms and somehow managed to smuggle (read kidnapped) Cody, Gree, Wolffe and Bly into the 501st dorm refresher without Rex or the other clones from other squadrons knowing. The others spent around 10 minutes rallying up everyone into the refresher, so approximately 4 o'clock in the morning, the entirety of men who were on Ahsoka's side were shoved uncomfortably into the very cramped space.

Despite their sleepiness, everyone tried to muster up an enthusiastic face, eager to know what Echo had in mind.

' Hello, delighted to see you all again,' Echo rubbed his hands. He was the core leader of the massive discussion session.

The men murmured groggily in response.

' C'mon. Give me some more response. You all sound like you are going unconscious.'

They moaned some more.

' Please continue, Echo,' Kix sighed.

' While you were all away gathering people for this meeting, Kix and I have discussed the details about the plan. Now as you all know, our beloved Captain Rex is going to swoop down on us the entire day tomorrow. He is already very suspicious and touchy about the subject. There is absolutely no way we can know the results of the trial without ticking him off, so we have to be as discreet about it as possible. So at breakfast in the morning, I want you all to stay quiet and pretend to be as oblivious as possible,' Echo said.

Coric snorted, ' What do you have in mind? Discreet, huh.'

' Ah yes, Coric! We have a plan. We need the minimal number of people involved in snooping around for any latest news, which is _one_ only. Kix and I have picked out the lucky person already,' Echo turned to Jesse. ' Jesse! Are you alright for the job?'

' WHAT?' Jesse spluttered. ' Why me?'

Kix dipped his head apologetically, ' Sorry, pal. It was just a random pick. You won't mind, will you?'

' Mind? I'll get skewered by Rex if I am found out!' Jesse blabbered.

Echo corrected, ' You will get skewered if you are not careful. But I trust that you will be most careful.'

Jesse gaped at him, ' How does the plan of yours work?'

' Simple, really. I want you to snoop around the Jedi Temple for any news about the trial. You know, some Jedi love _discussing_ about matters, um, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that they are gossipers, but they tend to _discuss_ stuff. And I believe there is a 99.9 % chance for some Padawans to walk around discussing the results once they are out. I want you to sneak around the Temple area, listen, and report back. Alright?'

' Fine,' Jesse crossed his arms. ' I'll do it.'

Cody said worriedly, ' Echo, are you sure about that?'

' I'm quite sure Rex will be after our blood if he finds out,' Gree agreed.

' He will not be pleased,' Bly added.

' Will my men be affected as well?' Wolffe questioned, looking quite concerned.

' Dude. Relax, people,' Echo waved him off. ' Kix and I revised the plan for a couple times while you are all way, so it will not fail if y'all cooperate with us. Plus, you are as curious as we are so you are one to talk.' Cody looked down at his boots innocently.

' Last notices, remember to pretend that nothing has happened tomorrow at breakfast. I assume that General Skywalker or General Kenobi will show up at the mess hall, so I want absolute silence. No fooling or messing around please. The last thing on our bucket list is a public yelling ensemble performance consisting of both General Skywalker and Rex. Do you understand?'

The men mumbled agreements.

' Good. In that case, this concludes our meeting,' Echo announced to the men. ' You can all go back to bed _quietly_. We don't want Rex to scream at us again.'

Fives opened the refresher door panel and crept out. Appo was right behind him, trying to get out after him. But unfortunately, once Fives made it past the doorway, he tripped on a single stray piece of leftover popcorn from the men's late night snacks and fell with a massive _ker-thunk_ on the ground. Appo gasped in horror when Rex stirred at the faraway bunk and hurried back into the refresher, the door sliding shut behind him. The last thing Fives could see were the men's terrified faces in the refresher at the prospect of Rex finding out about the secret meeting.

 _Appo you traitorous, old bat,_ Fives thought and a sense of dread filled him when Rex sat up quickly on his bunk, looking murderous.

' What's the noise?' He said sharply.

' Tripped,' Fives said. He prayed hard that Rex could go back to bed, but that wasn't the case. The captain had extremely good eyesight, and within seconds of looking around in the dark, he demanded, ' Where is everyone? Why are their beds empty?'

Fives gulped (not wanting to die OR betray his brothers), ' Um, um, I seriously don't know.' He was a terrible liar.

A dull thud came out from the closed refresher door.

' What was that?' Rex hissed. ' It came from the refresher.'

' I-it is nothing! Probably a piece of soap fell from the rack,' Fives lied frantically, but it had no use.

' It doesn't sound like soap.'

' It could be a towel!'

Rex menacingly approached the refresher door. He was an inch from opening the door, when...

 _Delightful_ music sounded from behind the door.

 **Listening to Ahsoka's theme while writing this (so overloaded with feels) :'((**

 **Since I will not be able to update for a week, I'll say Merry Christmas to you all in advance! :D**

 **MERRY CHRISTMAS! (kind of early, but whatever) :P**


	4. Chapter 4

**I just realised it's been ages since I updated this... no, I haven't forgotten about this yet! XD So there you go!**

Fives froze at the sound of music. _What in Umbara were they up to?_

Rex wasn't expecting the sound of festive and merriment from the refresher, but he still managed to pull himself together to an _angry-captain_ mode, then proceeded to slide open the door violently.

Fives tipped his toes to peer over the Captain's shoulder, and to say he was shocked was an understatement.

The refresher was transformed into a party room in who knows how many seconds (probably during the time period Fives was cornered by Rex). Echo, Kix, Jesse and Appo had a trumpet each, while Hawk and Coric tapped on drums casually. They were performing a jazzy piece of Sy Snootles. Of all the singers they could choose on the Holonet they chose Sy Snootles. Food and drinks were passed out too. Cody, Bly, Wolffe and Gree were still shoved to the corner, but somehow they all had a glass of juma juice each. If they were confused, they didn't show it. Fives had no idea where all these food and instruments came from and how did they manage to change the 'meeting room' into a disco.

Hawk only looked up lazily from his trumpet when he saw Rex glowering down at them. ' Hello there, Rex, didn't see you here.'

' _What are you doing? What is this?'_ Rex demanded loudly (even his loudest commanding voice was nearly covered by the blasting music in the background).

' Partying,' Appo said nonchalantly.

Rex casted Appo a sideway glance that probably said how-come-you-still-have-the-mood-to-party, but Appo ignored it and continued playing his trumpet happily. Then he continued glaring at Fives.

Fives quickly improvised a lie, though he had no idea that this was going to happen, ' Uh, I'm sorry I woke you up from your sleep, Rex. I was just going out to get extra drinks from the pantry.'

Tup looked up from his bag of popcorn to give Fives a thumbs up for his quick thinking. Or at least Fives thought he meant that way, because before he could question Tup with a raise of his eyebrows, Tup returned to guzzling popcorn.

Rex looked more and more murderous every second. ' Want some popcorn, Rex?' Tup generously offered another bag to Rex.

' NO,' Rex bellowed and slammed the door shut behind Fives.

Once their captain was out of sight, they stopped their music at once. ' What... Where did all these music and food come from?' Fives demanded the crowd of people.

' Well... We did think of a back-up plan in case Rex wakes up to find us in the refresher. So we hid these instruments and food here just in case,' Echo said, and to prove his point, Kix removed the floorboard to reveal secret compartments of food and extra trumpets below.

' There are secret compartments under the floorboards and I don't know?' Fives raised an eyebrow.

' Oh, there are many secrets here you don't know!' Cody huffed. ' That's unfair! The 212th refresher doesn't have secret floorboards or any removable ceilings or dancing mice or mini Hutts!'

' Removable ceilings?' Fives said, aghast. ' Dancing mice? Mini Hutts? Are you serious?'

' He totally made that up,' Gree rolled his eyes. ' We saw no dancing mice in here.'

' Anyways, Rex may be angry, but that is better than him going on a blaster-fighting spree after finding out our, um, precious plan,' Kix coughed.

' Yeah,' Tup agreed. ' Want some more popcorn?'

* * *

The very next morning, the 501st trudged to the mess hall in a quiet and orderly fashion, not wanting to further tick Rex off. The captain had been in a bad, if not terrible mood, especially after discovering their late night party.

They lingered in the bathroom for a final briefing of their plan, and decided they were all very ready to go.

Besides, once they arrived, it turned out the entire barracks knew of what happened last night in the corridors. Clones from all legions lifted their heads to look at the 501st when they entered the room, curiosity dancing in their eyes. Rex grumpily motioned them to ignore the others.

Fives faintly heard all the other clones discussing about what had happened. Of how one of the most well respected Commanders was accused of such a terrible crime and was caught by Wolffe with a former Separatist/Sith assassin (they don't care whether she was a bounty hunter or not). All of them were shocked.

On the far end of the room, Cody, Gree and Bly sat together, holding a mug of caff each, and anxious to see what would happen at breakfast. But Wolffe was nowhere to be seen. Bly suspected that he had gone to buy his legion some new blasters, to replace the ones Asajj Ventress sliced at.

Sure enough, the pair of Jedi that most had been waiting for with bated breath arrived shortly after the entirety of 501st sat down. Boy, they looked tired.

General Kenobi looked extremely weary and concerned for his former Padawan. Well, he should be, because General Skywalker looked terrible. If one person could be angry, upset, concerned, terrified, tired, murderous, pained, insecure, lonely and depressed all at once, he definitely nailed it. His face was a one great mixture of all of that.

' General Skywalker looks even worse than Rex,' Kix mumbled to Jesse. ' A lot angrier.'

' Of course he would be,' Jesse answered quietly.

' Good morning General Skywalker, General Kenobi,' Rex greeted the pair dutifully, no matter how upset he was too.

' Good morning to you too, Rex,' General Kenobi said tried for a kind tone.

' G'morning,' General Skywalker mumbled, desperately trying to muster a friendly tone, but it didn't really work. What came out sounded more like a rasp instead.

The rest of the legion went back to eating their breakfast, while silently monitoring the two Jedi's movements. They didn't say anything. Before they even knew it, the two Generals along with Captain Rex got up and left the mess hall. Once they left, the mood lightened and the room erupted into a loud chatter, discussing the strange reaction of the Generals.

' Now, Jesse, it's your turn,' Echo cried over the noise. ' Bring glory to the 501st and get us some news! And get back here quick once you have it!'

Jesse mumbled something angrily to Echo and rose up to follow General Skywalker, Kenobi and Rex.


	5. Chapter 5

Jesse casually walked down the corridors of the Jedi Temple. It felt really weird. Not that he had never been to the Temple, it was every time he was called to the Temple, it would be some sort of huge mission waiting for them and all of them would race like maniacs to the hangar. But this time, he could walk slowly and basically enjoy his time. But he wasn't here for fun either. He had news to bring back to his brothers.

He glanced at his chrono. The trial should have ended ten minutes ago, yet no news came across his ears. All he had was clusters and clusters of Padawans running past, laughing about silly things.

He took off his helmet, just as a door on the side swung open, letting out a large bunch of Padawans. They had just finished their language class, seeing that their arms were overloaded with datapads, books and bits of whatever assignments they had received from their instructors. But they didn't look like they knew anything about the Jedi trial either because all they were chattering about was some Rodian poet, whom Jesse recognised as one of General Kenobi's favourite poets (according to Cody).

Maybe he was far too busy trying to look ahead of him, he hadn't noticed a young kid dashing past him, and colliding right into the group of Padawans. That caught Jesse's attention so he casually stuck around to eavesdrop.

' Ow! Caleb!' One of the Padawans - a Togrutan girl rubbed her arm reproachfully and glared at the kid. ' Can you actually keep your eyes on the road? And... as usual, you skipped today's language class. Master Palmer won't be tolerating this any longer, you know.'

' To be exact, you have been absent from class for three months in a row,' An Ithorian boy picked up his books from the floor.

The panting boy - Caleb, waved his hands madly around him, ' I have the most _shocking_ news! I have just heard it from my master! They have caught the Jedi Temple bomber!'

That definitely caught the Padawans' interest. ' Wait, are you kidding? Who was that?' A Twi'lek boy demanded.

' You won't believe this! It is Padawan Ahsoka Tano!' Caleb shrieked into their faces.

' Wait. Padawan Tano, as in the Padawan of the Hero With No Fear?' The Togrutan girl gasped. ' No way! I can't believe this! She won't do that! Never in a million years?'

' She's my idol!' The Ithorian boy said, aghast. ' She fought in so many battles for the Republic, and she will never betray the Jedi Order. I agree with Ashla. So what happened then?'

' I'm not entirely sure what happened during the trial, but the end was they casted her out of the Order,' Caleb said bluntly and Jesse nearly had a heart attack on the spot.

' WHAT?' A Nautolan boy yelled out loud. ' How can this be?'

' Now, she will be judged by the Galactic Senate,' Caleb groaned. ' This is terrible! This is so-o-o-o terrible! But Senator Amidala has agreed to defend Padawan Tano.'

The group of Padawans started moving forward again, this time they groaned and groaned about injustice and made as much noise as possible.

Jesse was rooted to the spot. He couldn't breath. The Jedi had casted away one of the most loyal Jedi.

* * *

' WHAT?' Echo screamed, his reaction the same as the group of Padawans. ' How could they?'

Jesse had just returned to their dorm rooms, made sure Rex wasn't there, and reported to his fellow brothers of this distressing news.

' This is not good,' Kix murmured. ' The Galactic Senate... And I bet that Tarkin will be the prosecutor, right?'

' Tarkin... I don't really like him that much,' Fives wrinkled his nose. ' Too ambitious. But we have Senator Amidala on our side. Um, she's kind of good at debating, right? So we will have a chance of winning.'

' I hope so,' Appo mumbled.

Echo coughed twice, ' Um, we'll see. Jesse, please go and report back once you have the news.'

* * *

Then the news came to Jesse.

He had been staying around the Temple for so long. So long he had no idea how long he had been sulking around. But he heard some Jedi Masters passing around the message. Commander Tano was not guilty. Instead, Commander Barriss Offee had been the culprit, caught by General Skywalker. Though Commander Tano was offered to be reinstated into the Order, she refused, and left forever.

The shocking news was too much. Jesse immediately raced back to the clone barracks, right into the mess hall, too horrified to care whether Rex was in there or not.

Once he charged into the mess hall, he screamed, ' THE VERDICT IS OUT! THE VERDICT IS OUT!'

' What is it?' Echo cried. And everyone went silent, eager to hear.

' COMMANDER TANO IS NOT GUILTY! BUT COMMANDER BARRISS OFFEE IS THE REAL CULPRIT BEHIND THE TEMPLE BOMBINGS!' Jesse shouted.

' It can't be!' Gree cried. ' Commander Offee would never do anything like that!'

' SHE WAS OFFERED TO BE REINSTATED BY THE HIGH COUNCIL, BUT SHE TURNED DOWN THE OFFER AND LEFT THE JEDI ORDER!'

The room bursted into chaos at the news. All the clones was screaming in agony. Even Fox held a hand to his mouth, apparently too stunned. He had wrongly accused an innocent girl.

' No! She can't!'

' 501st is doomed!'

' No... Why?'

' Without Commander, we are doomed!'

 _Smack._

Everyone fell silent.

Standing up, looking downright murderous, was Rex. He had just pelted a cheese sandwich at Jesse. The shocking impact of the sandwich made Jesse topple to the ground.

Apparently Rex was as upset as they were, because he moodily stormed out of the room.

Everyone's attention fell back on Jesse. All the cheese had stuck onto his head and the sandwich itself stuck to his head like some fancy hat. Bly dutifully helped Jesse up and Cody kept shooting worried glances at Gree.

' But... Commander Offee, she can't...' Gree blabbered helplessly at Cody and Bly.

Wolffe, who was standing back there, shook his head sadly.

* * *

The next few days, it was almost as if someone important had died.

The 501st were tremendously saddened by the surprising news. Sure, they had thousands upon thousands of brothers, but Commander Tano was almost like a sister to them. And now she was gone. Forever. Fives was extremely sure Gree and his men felt the same for Commander Offee.

Yet, they made no complaint. Deep inside, Echo knew they should be extremely angry at Commander Offee. But looking at how sad Gree was towards the betrayal, they knew if the roles were reversed, they would have felt the same too. They understood perfectly how Gree felt. So the League of Commanders (consisting of Cody, Bly, Fox and Wolffe) tried their best to comfort Gree.

The Jedi was no better in dealing with this matter. General Skywalker seriously tried hard to let go and forget, in order to live up to his rank as the Hero with No Fear. For the first few days, being the good actor he was, he pretended that Ahsoka Tano had never existed in his life. He plodded around brightly, tried to initiate a conversation with Rex (who was in a bad mood and didn't even respond) and made terrible jokes (at which everyone looked at each other, not getting the joke at all). He acted a bit too normal, to be exact.

However, his true emotions resurfaced after a few weeks, in which he showed how upset he really was. The General would always look around during briefings as if he had lost something. He constantly (accidentally) mentioned the Commander in attack plans. Afterwards, he would fall into an endless pit of depression upon realising his mistake.

Like the General, the men were starting to think they would never see their happy Commander anymore. Well, it was until...

 **The end! XD**

 **I don't know why, but I really like the friendship between Jedi and the clones (up until *cough* Order 66 *cough* but let's ignore that for the time being). :)**


End file.
